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Tyrconnell gold mine, part of the Hodgkinson goldfield in far north Queensland, was once home to 10,000 gold miners and their families.
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State honours for Maidenwell boarding house
A former boarding house located on Maidenwell-Cooyar Road at Maidenwell, near the Bunya Mountains, has been recognised for its state heritage values.
Queensland Heritage Council (QHC) Chair David Eades said the decision to enter the former King's Boarding House in the Queensland Heritage Register had been made at last week's QHC meeting.
"Built in 1889 by John King, one of the first settlers in the district, the place is important in demonstrating the pattern of development in the South Burnett area during the 1890s," Mr Eades said.
"It is also important in illustrating the evolution of transport and communications links in the Wide Bay-Burnett district.
"As well as being a family residence, by 1899, the place operated as a boarding house for travellers on the Jondaryan-Nanango route, and as a mail receiving office and store for the growing settler community, until the establishment of the Maidenwell township in the 1910s.
"While some alterations have occurred over time, the place is relatively intact and retains sufficient fabric in its layout and materials to demonstrate its functions as a boarding house, mail receiving office and store."
Mr Eades said it was a rare surviving example of a coach stop on a travel route that was historically important from the 1850s.
"Coach stops and the services they provided were a critical component of road infrastructure throughout Queensland prior to the emergence of the motor vehicle in the twentieth century," he said.
"Its setting along a flat section of a predominantly hilly road, easily visible to travellers and near a water crossing, is a good example of a favourable site for a coach stop/changing station on a coach route. "
The place comprises two gabled timber and iron structures – one the boarding house with enclosed verandahs and the other a kitchen with stone fireplace and cellar - connected by a covered walkway.
"The former King's Boarding House is important for its potential to contribute to our understanding of horizontal timber slab construction and for its strong aesthetic appeal," Mr Eades said.
"Located in a quiet rural setting, the place has been a prominent roadside landmark on the Maidenwell-Cooyar Road for well over a century."
The former King's Boarding House was identified as part of the statewide heritage survey, being carried out by the Department of Environment and Resource Management's Heritage Branch.
The Queensland Heritage Council is the state's independent peak body and advisor on heritage matters and determines what places are entered in the Queensland Heritage Register.
Places that are entered in the Heritage Register are considered of importance to Queensland's history and are protected under heritage legislation.